[gothic-l] Re: Re: More on the Gothic-Slavic link
Sigmund
sigmund at ALGONET.SE
Thu Nov 1 10:16:56 UTC 2001
Thank you so very much, Francisc,
Glad you took your time. Your answer was highly elucidating and gave me
a prompt answer to my questions, and much of it was welcome news to me.
You probably know that modern days' Slovenian claim to be descendants of
non-Pripjat slavs, having migrated to this area north-east of Italy long before
the "ordinary" great slavic migrations and living alongside with celtic tribes?
I don't know what evidence they have for it and it is of course less than
tangential here in this forum, but I came to think of it when you referred to
"(probably Illyrian) tribe of the Veneti (the name is also connected with the
name of the region Venetia, now Venezia in NE Italy".
Sclavus tue,
Sigmund
PS Glad you disregarded my anachronistic treatment of Jordanes. More on
that in my reply to Andreas Schwarcz. DS
Francics wrote =>
"Hello, Sigmund,
I'm not a professional in such matters, so I will tell you what I have
read and seems to be accepted by many.
Wends/Venethi: in the early antiquity, the eastern neighbors of the
Germanic peoples were represented by the old Indo-European (probably
Illyrian) tribe of the Veneti (the name is also connected with the
name of the region Venetia, now Venezia in NE Italy, and the name of
the city of Venice). When the Veneti were later replaced/assimilated
by the Slavs, the old Germans transferred the name Venethi/Venedi to
them. Initially, it was a generic term for the Slavs (Iordanes:
Venethi, OHG: winid-, MHG: winde). Later the term was confined to the
direct Slavic neighbors of the Germans: the Lusacian Sorabs, called in
German "Wenden". The term was borrowed also by non-Germanic languages
and denominates Slavic neighbors:
Finnish: Venäjä "Russia", venäläis "Russian"
Hungarian: vend "Slovenian of Hungary"
Vandal: several ethymologies proposed, discussed also on this list.
None looks to me convincing.
Vinnili: don't know.
It seems that the terms "Vandali" and "Vinnili" are not connected to
"Veneti", nor to each other.
Regarding Sclavinia/Slavonia, they are derived from the own
degnitation of the old Slavs: Slovene. One possible etymology is that
quoted in my previous mail (slovo "word"), but there are also other
hypotheses. From the time when the Avars dominated the Slavs and used
them as slaves, dates also the Latin term sclavus "slave".
Why an old Germanic territory is named "Sclavinia", I can not imagine,
only speculations...
I hope that someone more informed than me could help you better.
Francisc"
You are a member of the Gothic-L list. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to <gothic-l-unsubscribe at egroups.com>.
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
More information about the Gothic-l
mailing list